Coat hanger sheath



Aug. 12, 1969 wfP. BAUGHMAN 3 ,460,7 7

COAT HANGER SHEATH Filed July 6. 1966 INVENTOR fiw YM FM A 7' TORNE VS Uni ed S w Pa 3,460,727 COAT HANGER SHEATH Walter. P. Baughman, Livonia, Mich., assignorto Plastomer Corporation, Livonia, Mich., a corporation of a Michigan 1 I p Filed July 6, 1966, Ser. No. 563,265

Int. Cl. A41d 27/22 US. Cl. 223-98 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In the past, it has been common to make a strip of this kind with a central hole to pass over the hook of a Wire coat hanger. The ends of the strip are then stapled together to form pockets which anchor on the opposed ends of the hanger adjacent the horizontal bar.

Since the material is extremely difficult to handle mechanically, it has been prohibitive to set up automatic machines for stapling the ends of the material together to provide the anchoring pocket which is utilized at the ends of the hanger. This stapling has been done by hand and hasmaterially increased the cost of the sheaths.

The present invention relates to a coat hanger combination wherein a wire coat hanger is covered with a sheath of polyurethane material joined together at its ends with a cohesive material which forms the pocket necessary to anchor the sheath.

The invention also relates to a blank of material which is provided at each end with a particular adhesive material which has the characteristic of being relatively dry to the touch and cohesive with respect to itself alone.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a blank for coat hanger sheaths which can be shipped fiat in large quantities with a specific adhesive applied to the ends on one side only. Then without further handling, the blanks or strips may be distributed to the ultimate user, namely the cleaning establishments and so on, and directly used. Another feature of the device is the unexpected result that despite tension on the strip in assembly with the coat hanger end tending to wedge apart the Walls of the pocket, the adhesive does not peel away but holds firmly.

Other objects and features of the invention relating to details of construction and operation will be apparent in the following description and claims.

Drawings accompany the disclosure and the various views thereof may be briefly described as:

FIGURE 1, a view of the combination of the improved sheath and the coat hanger.

FIGURE 2, a view of the sheath blank with the cohesive material applied.

FIGURE 3, a view of a stack of blanks showing the manner in which they are handled and shipped.

FIGURE 4, a view showing how the blank is picked up by an operator and the ends squeezed together so that the cohesive material will join together to form the necessary anchoring pocket.

Referring to the drawings: A coat hanger is shown in FIGURE 1 having the standard hook portion and the shoulder runs 12 and 14 terminating in bight portions 16 and 18 leading to the horizontal run 20. The blank for the protective sheath is shown in FIGURE 2 comprising a strip 22 of material such as polyurethane preferably about 1%" in width and about 14" in length. These blanks are provided with a central hole 24 through ice which the hook portion 10 of the hanger is projected and which adapts itself to the merging portions of the shoulder runs 12 and 14 when the device is applied to the hanger. The polyurethane material, a porous, sponge-like substance, is preferably about Ms thick and it will be recognized, of course, that other plastics having similar characteristics can be utilized for the basic material.

On one side of each strip spaced about A" from each end is an area coated with a specific adhesive 26, the area coated being approximately 4 to Vs" in width eX- tending across the strip. Thismaterial is an adhesive obtainable from the Fuller Adhesive Co. designated by #520 or #521 and having a natural rubber base. It is a material that has a dry feel when applied to the sheath blank and when set will not adhere to a polyurethane strip which might overlie it in shipping. However, when an individual strip is picked up as shown in FIGURE 4 and the ends of the coated side of the strip pressed together between the thumb and forefinger, the material 26 will cohere to itself and form a permanent pocket which can be hooked over the ends of the coat hanger as shown in FIGURE 1.

Thus, in almost a single motion, the operator can pick up a strip, thread the neck portion through the center hole, and seal the end pockets while assembling the device and then stretch the strip to hook. the pockets on the hanger ends. The result is a strip which is much reduced in cost and which can be shipped flat to the ultimate user. No intermediate assembly handling is thus required to shape the strips. Accordingly shipping is much simplified to the ultimate user who can form as he applies the sheath.

It is important to realize that the sheath strip is stretched in assembly since it is shorter than the span it is intended to cover. For example, a standard wire hanger measures about 19 from end to end over the shoulder runs. The sheath strip is about 14" in length and the distance between the pockets is about 13". Thus, the strip must be stretched about 6", a little less than half its length, in order for the pockets to be received by the ends of the hanger. The strip remains in tension in assembly and the ends of the hanger are in a position to wedge into the cleavage at the adhesive joint as shown in FIG- URE 1 at 26 as the tensioned strip pulls against the ends. Nevertheless despite this condition the adhesive does not peel apart. The reason for this is not fully understood but it is believed to be in part due to the combination of the porous, sponge-like material which locks in an unusual amount of the adhesive. Then when the adhesive is joined to itself and pressed firmly together, the cohesive mass is believed to be larger in surface area than it would be on a flat surface and being firmly anchored it does not peel away.

I claim:

1. A coat hanger formed of a strand of material such as wire having a hook portion, shoulder runs, and bight portions at each end thereof and in combination therewith, a sheath to be stretched over and anchored on the top portion of the hanger and the shoulder runs comprising:

(a) a flat strip of porous, sponge-like material penetrated by the hook portion of the hanger and having a length substantially less than the total shoulder runs of the hanger and having pockets formed at the ends thereof,

(b) a coating of cohesive material anchored into the surface at each end of said strip, and cohesive material being dry to the :feel and, when set up, being nonadhesive with respect to untreated portions of the sheath material but cohesive with itself to join the ends of the strip together in a longitudinal fold to form said pockets when said strip is folded and pressed on itself at said coated ends,

(c) said strip being stretched over the shoulder runs .of said hanger and said pockets being anchored on said bight portions to retain said strip in stretched condition.

2. A blank for forming a sheath for the shoulder portions of a coat hanger which comprises a strip of stretchable material having a relatively porous, sponge-like, high frictional surface characteristic, said strip being adapted to be stretched along the top run of a coat hanger and having a width substantially less than its length, and a coating of adhesive material anchored into the surface of one side of said strip at each end thereof, said material being dry to the touch when set up and non-cohesive with respect to untreated portions of the material from which the strip is formed but being cohesive with itself so that the strip may be folded on a longitudinal axis and pressed together at said coated ends to form retaining pockets adapted to receive the ends of a coat hanger.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 586,754 11/1959 Canada.

15 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner 

